Broken System: The Schwarts Files
by Sobe James
Summary: Mars is stuck between corporations who want to rule with impunity and criminal gangs set on the destruction of all that the people hold dear. Join an intrepid team brought together by duty and honor as they try to bring justice to the red desert in the most inhospitable place humanity ever tried to conquer.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

A thousand years ago humans looked to the stars and could only dream of reaching them, today that dream has been made a reality. Humanity has now grown beyond the boundaries of its homeworld. The first place humans expanded to was their moon, a target within easy reach. After humanity had managed to have a few cities on their moon, they began to plan another expansion. This time, however, their target was much farther away. Mars.

To say reaching Mars was harder would be the same as yelling water is wet. Many governments tried to be the first to reach the red planet, but none could succeed alone. Seeing this, the companies of Earth hatched a plan. They would add their backing to government efforts. Much like the east India company's of the old world, they would fund the missions to Mars in exchange for land and control of the new colonies. In total, 105 companies would join together to accomplish this goal. In the end, via mergers and acquisitions, the 105 companies shrunk to only two dozen mega-corporations.

By working together with the governments of the world, the first functioning martian colonies were operational only 25 years later. In a short time, Mars went from hosting only a handful of colonies to whole cities inhabiting the planet, and it would only grow from there. The corporations grew exponentially more powerful because of the resources found on an and under the surface. They were able to fund more missions to set up more cities and sent terraforming equipment to the most profitable locations. In all, it took only 550 years to terraform the planet.

After 250 years of being ruled by governments and corporations that had never set foot on the planet, its inhabitants revolted. In a bloody revolution that would leave many dead, the martin born would seize a sizable portion of the planet from her overlords on Earth. However, without a government of their own to keep the newfound freedom and no functioning police, criminal organizations would spread like wildfire across the planet. This lead to the citizen brokering an uneasy deal with Earth. Earth was to provide a security force on the surface. In exchange, the mines and plants would be returned to corporate control.

Not wanting to send a formal army to Mars, the governments of Earth decided to license individuals to act as police and military personal on Mars. A person with this license was allowed to collect a tax and was awarded a cash sum for every criminal they captured or eliminated. Seeing the number of criminals and gangs on the planet, they also allowed these people to create and run entire organizations to aid in the elimination of as many criminals as possible. In time these groups would become to be seen as bounty hunters.

It has been a thousand years since the time humans first set foot on Mars. It has gone from a government-controlled experiment to corporate control to a planet ruled by revolutionaries and then to a world full of criminals. For the last two centuries, all four groups have fought over control of the planet. Only time will tell if greed, profits, freedom, or justice will come to rule.

**Thank you for checking out my preview one of my original works! I am going to be working on this in the coming weeks; Please take note of the fact that this story will not have a set update schedule. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to PM me or leave a review. ~Sobe James**


	2. Chapter 1: The City That Never Sleeps

"All rise," The bailiff announced to the court, causing all the people in attendance to stand respectfully as the judge entered the ornate courtroom. "I present the honorable Judge Mathew Bell presiding," the bailiff said as the aged Judge Bell made his way the bench.

Having taken his seat, he loudly banged his gavel on the podium and announced to the room, "Court is now in session, you may all be seated."

The court stenographer quickly handed Bell a stack of papers; he took a moment to straighten them before speaking again. "Welcome to the New York Superior Court, as you know the first item on the court's agenda today is the swearing-in of the new Justice Enforcement Officers.", he paused for a moment to survey the room before he continued. "When your name gets called, you will enter the well and repeat the oath of office; afterward, you will exit the courtroom and make your way to the assignments office on the second floor."

"Abernathy," Bell called to the court. A lean man of average height quickly rose and made his way to the well. Abernathy quickly repeated the oath of service before taking his signed license from the judge and briskly walked to the exit at the back of the room. A small but fit woman with short blonde fur and ears that resembled a rabbits leaned to the man on her right and began to whisper.

"Sebas, what number are we?" She asked with a yawn. Sebas reached into the pocket of his nicely tailored black suit and pulled out a worn envelope; he took a moment to examine its contents before responding.

"We are forty-second today; did you remember to bring your passport Katie?" Sebas replied, his steel-colored eyes locking with her rich emerald green ones. Katie scratched at the side of her flat nose before responding, "Of course I did, don't be silly," She muttered while checking her pockets.

"I only bring it up because you forgot last week. I don't want to have to try and sweet talk another customs agent," Sebas said before adding gruffly, "And they say us Martians lack etiquette."

"Well, lets just all be glad you were there. I can't believe these people and their prejudices against my people. They act as if we have fleas or something!" Katie whisper shouted aggressively, her long ears folding falt into her brown hair.

"I know it's not right that they treated you that way. You and I know that without the help of the Lepusli, we would never have been able to inhabit Mars. However, most humans are a panicky lot and don't want any aliens to be able to come to Earth," Sebas agreed before adding "Earth is the home of humanity, No aliens have any business or right to be here." He finished imitating a politician.

Katie gave a soft chuckle at his antics before speaking softly, "You keep that up, and you might just get elected president. Anyway, I am going to step out into the hall and call Sissy; I want to make sure she has gotten everything packed for the move." She finished rising on her long and slender legs gracefully exiting from the row of benches and out of the courtroom.

The hallway was furnished, much like the ceremonial courtroom where the swearing-in was taking place with golden moldings running along the floor and ceiling and cut and polished marble tile gracing the floor. Although the clicking of the lawyer's and clerks' shoes on the tile Katie's feet didn't make a sound has she strode gracefully on the pads of her paws to an open bench to sit down.

As she came to rest on the ornate bronze bench, she pulled a black tablet from one of her pockets and tapped the screen bringing it to life. She scrolled through her contacts before coming across one that read 'Sissy.' She tapped the call button with the polished nail on the end of her finger. Seeing that the call went through, she held the tablet up to her cheek and waited for the call to be answered. 

**Spirt County: Mars**

A pile of tan cardboard boxes sat in the center of the reasonably sized room with its sole occupant asleep on a dilapidated leather couch pushed up against the far wall. On an old wooden table next to the sofa, a white tablet's screen lit suddenly and started to make a loud, repetitive chime disturbing the sofa's occupant, gently a lepuslian female's eyes fluttered open.

Awoken by the noise, she sat upright and stretched her slender arms out above her head while her tan ears folded back into a nest of long raven hair. She yawned widely before scanning the empty room with her jade eyes before they came to rest on the offending tablet. Seeing that she had an incoming call, she leaned her slim frame over the end of the sofa to pluck the tablet from the table; she eyed the screen warily before accepting the call.

"Hello?" She asked sleepily with her eyes drifting closed.

"Hey, Sissy! It's me your sister remember, The one that had to go to Earth to get sworn in!" The voice on the other said excitedly.

"Oh my god, Kaite! How have you been?! How did the swearing-in go? Is Sebas with you? How is Earth? You've been gone for over a month!" Sissy snapped off in rapid succession, rocketing up onto her paws enthusiastically with a big smile on her face.

"Woah, there Sissy, one at a time. First off Sebas and I are good we have been staying in a nice hotel outside the city. Secondly, we haven't been sworn in just yet we are waiting to see the judge now, And lastly, I haven't seen much of Earth we haven't left New York City, but it has been nice. You would not believe how clean the air is even in the big city. It is not like on Mars, where only expensive buildings have filters for all the dust that gets kicked up," Katie explained to her sister calmly with a hint of a laugh in her voice.

Sissy was bouncing on her paws while holding the tablet to her cheek, listening to her sister describe Earth. "You know Kaite; you are one of only a handful of our kind that have been able to go to Earth. Not only that, but I am pretty sure you're going to be the first Lepuslian J.E.O. too!" Sissy happily told Katie, she paused for a brief moment before adding, "I am sure mom and dad would be proud of you." Sissy said with a gentle smile on her face at the thought of her parents.

"I am sure they are proud of you too, Sissy, even the old man as curmudgeonly as he was." The sisters shared a hearty laugh before Katie continued, "Wash your paws before you come in the house! I don't want to find a bunch of muddy prints all over the place! Don't make me make you wear shoes!" She said, imitating a gruff older man.

The sisters exploded into giggles before Sissy spoke, trying to stop her laughing fit, "Has gritty as he was Mr. Yohann was real nice to take Sebastian and us in after what happened."

"Yeah, Pa was real good to us all God bless em. I am sure he would be thrilled to find out the three munchkins he took in are going to become lawmen," Katie said fondly. "Anyway, How is packing going?"

"I am almost done, you and Sebas have a tonne of stuff to go through after we move. I think I managed to get most of it organized while I was packing it up, though," Sissy said, eying a box that had 'Kitchen Fragile!' written on it upside down.

"Good nice to know that the home front is being well-taken care of," Kaite said before she stopped suddenly, "I have to go, Sissy, Sebas just stepped out and signaled me to come back. I will tell him that his little sister said hi," Katie said, getting ready to hang up the call.

"Tell him I love him too and that I made sure to get the gun safe packed as well!" Sissy shouted happily just before the call ended.

"Woo! We are nearly there!' Sissy shouted with glee while dancing about the room. She walked over to the couch and table to pick up an empty coffee mug before she walked to the kitchen in the small house. Walking into the kitchen, she turned on the coffee maker before exiting the room and walking down a stripped hallway with light spots on the wall where pictures used to hang before walking passed a door the had study written on it.

She stopped so fast that her paws skidded on the bare wood floor before her head whipped around to the door she just passed. She paused for a moment before opening the door with great trepidation. Slowly the door swung open to reveal a room with floor to ceiling bookcases filled with old and worn books and a shabby wooden desk covered in paperwork. Sissy started to shake before whimpering, "No, how could I forget Pa's study! I was so close to being done!" Sissy squeaked sinking to her knees, folding her ears completely into her hair before a loud ding echoed throughout the empty house.

One of her white tufted ears shout up and twisted at the noise. "Well, if I have to pack up another room, I am going to need coffee," Sissy said to no one as she got back to her feet and headed to get a large cup of coffee. 

**Superior Court: New York City**

"Sorry, that took so long, oh, and Sissy said that she misses us and loves us," Katie said, falling back into her spot next to Sebas.

"It's okay; I am glad you got a moment to speak with her. Did she pack my gun safe?" Sebas asked, leaning towards Katie.

"She specifically told me to tell you that she remembered; you only told her about a thousand times before we left," Kaite said with a smirk in Sebas's direction. "I'm sure that," Kaite started to say before being cut off.

"Sebastian and Kathrine Schwarts, please come forward," Judge Bell called from his seat on the bench.

Sebas and Katie rose to their feet and began to walk to the well. As they strode passed other rows of seats, a quiet murmuring went through the courtroom.

"Ignore them. You are about to show these doubters what your kind can really do," Sebas whispered to Katie entering the well. She gave a slight nod that she had heard him. Sebas noticed that her jaw had clenched down, keeping her from snapping at the gawkers.

Judge Bell sat straight upright in his chair when the pair entered the well past the bailiff whos jaw was hanging open. He cast his eyes over to the bailiff, who could only meet his gaze and shrug. Bell leaned over the podium to better see the pair that just entered the well. He looked down at the list of names in front of him before addressing them.

"You are Sebastian and Kathrine Schwarts? Here to be sworn in as Justice Enforcement Officers?" He asked, sounding hesitant.

"Yes, we are," The brother and sister responded, setting off a flurry of activity and noise from the audience, prompting Judge Bell to pick up and slam his gavel into its block.

"There will be silence in the court! Anyone who has an outburst will be ejected from the room!" His steely gaze swept the room that had gone deathly quiet before he turned back to the pair in front of him, "May I have your licensing and requirement papers," He asked, holding his hand down to the two.

"Of course your honor," Sebas said as Katie handed over the required papers from her bag. Bell took a few minutes to review the documents before speaking again.

"Very well, your paperwork is in the order you may proceed," He had barely finished speaking before a large man in the back stood up and shouted.

"You are going to let that flea-bitten rabbit become a J.E.O. this is a disgrace to the profession! Who are you to make that call!" The man shouted enraged before Bell responded.

"Silence! Baliff remove that man from the court! And for who I am, I am Judge Mathew Bell elected by the people of the great state of New York now; if you don't like my decision to allow Ms. Schwarts to swear in, then take it up with the commission," Bell yelled at the court as the bailiff dragged out the disorderly man.

"Now, you are free to give the oath at your leisure," Bell said, scanning the room for anymore dissident before turning his gaze back to the Schwarts siblings. Sebas and Katie both raised their right hands before speaking in unison.

"On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the law, my community, and the commission I serve," They finished in unison with slight smiles. Judge Bell gave a small nod before addressing the court once again.

"Very well, your oaths have been accepted; please take your license and head to room 206," Bell affirmed, holding out two sign licenses to the siblings.

"Thank you, your honor," Katie said to Bell while she took her license from his outstretched hand.

"It is my pleasure, ; I look forward to seeing your work in the future. Take care; Mars is a dangerous place to enforce the law," Judge Bell said with approval.

The Schwarts siblings quickly exited the courtroom and made their way down the gilded hall to the elevator up to the second floor. Stepping in the elevator, Sebas swiftly hit the button for floor number two. The doors chimed softly that they had arrived at the intended floor. Stepping from the elevator, they walked down another gilded hall to room 205, which had a substantial 205 printed on the door with 'Jurisdiction Assignments' written under the room number. Stopping for a moment to give each other a reassuring nod, Sebas opened the door and stepped into the cramped office.

The clerk attending the receptionist desk looked up from her work and made eye contact with the pair before speaking, "Are you here for jurisdiction assignments?" She asked with a semi-interested tone.

"Yes, we just got our licenses signed by Judge Bell downstairs," Katie said to the clerk handing her the two copies of their freshly signed license.

"Okay, let me just go hand these to the appointment agent and let him know that your here," She said, taking the copies and swiftly walking down the hall to a closed office. She knocked on the door and waited to be let in by the agent before entering.

"She seems nice," Katie said to Sebas with a sly smile on her face. Her eyes flashed with mischief before she spoke again, "She's pretty to you should try to get her number. I hear all the girls fawn over a man in uniform," She added with a laugh.

Sebas cut his sharp eyes at his sister before leaning in and whispering, "No, thank you, these Earth girls are strange. Who knows what she might make me do. Why she could even make me wear a pair of rabbit ears," Sebas said, pantomiming two large ears atop his head, causing Katie to explode with laughter at the idea.

"No, sir, the ears are mine and Sissy's thing, you're just going to have to be single than," she said through fits of laughter as the clerk returned.

"Mr. Farnsworth will see you know. He is in the last office at the end of the hall on the left," She said, gesturing down the hall behind her desk.

"Thank you," Sebas said to the clerk before walking to the indicated office, followed closely by Katie. Reaching the right door, he knocked politly.

"Enter," Said a stiff voice from inside the office. Having heard the voice, Sebas turned the knob and entered the room. A rough-looking man with silver hair sat behind a desk with Farnsworth written on the name plaque. Seeing the two siblings in his office, he gave a slight grunt and gestured to the worn-looking chairs in front of his desk for the two to sit down.

"I assume you are the pair the receptionist just told me about, let me see your papers," Farnsworth said, reaching out to take them from the siblings.

"Yes, we are," Sebas said, holding out the papers, "We should be getting assigned to somewhere in Spirit County," He informed Farnsworth, followed by Katie giving a nod of agreement.

"Well that's not happening, you can want to be sent to Spirt all you want, but that's not going to be you post," Farnsworth looked over the papers before coughing harshly and turning to his computer and entering some information.

"My terminal says that there are only two spots open in Spirt and they have already been set aside for more experienced agencies requesting expansions. In short, your assignment is going to be where the most request for geos are coming in from," Farnsworth said, using the slang for justice enforcement officers and not looking up from his screen.

"Sir, that can't be correct; we had been requested by name from the mayor of Neil City in Spirit County. It has been on file for months," Katie said, looking astonished.

"I can see you had an invitation there, but since your new and you lack the required experience to get that posting. Plus, I doubt that you could pull in the necessary amount to cover the fees associated with that post. No says here you are going to be assigned to Viking County based out of Olympus Mons," Farnsworth retorted, rotating his screen so that the siblings could see the assignment information.

The sibling looked shocked at this information. They shared a confused look before turning back to Farnsworth, and Sebas spoke, "Olympus Mons is on the edge of the frontier, it has been stuck between bandits and corporate goons squads for decades! Last time I check, only five-star agencies were even allowed to operate out there. We are a new agency with only three people!

"Look, kid, I have been doing this for a long time. So let me offer you some free advice. Start small, pick a town at the foot of the mountain and start there, look for people you trust to add to your agency, and slowly work your way up that mountain. I was doing this gig way back before anywhere on Mars could be considered a safe zone. I will look for a mining town at the lower elevations that as an opening with a decent budget allowence," Farnsworth said, gruffly poping some dip from a can in a drawer into his mouth. He took a moment to get it settled in the back of his mouth before resuming.

"Back in those days, agencies couldn't even rely on each other for help. I saw people solve problems with only their heads and their wits; i would advise that you read up on your predecessors. Olympus Mons is all I can offer you if you don't take it, it's going to be months before I can get you posted somewhere else, and by that time your licenses will be void. So what are you going to do?" Farnsworth said, pulling a bottle to his lips and spitting into it.

Kaite and Sebas shared a look of concern before Kaite gave an almost imperceptible nod. Sebas thought about it for another minute before he turned to Farnsworth. "Fine, we will take the jurisdiction, can you tell us why our posting got changed? It was still valid this morning," He said with a scowl.

Farnsworth turned the screen back towards him and started typing away, he read over the screen a couple of times before speaking to the siblings again," Says hear that some large hotshot agency offered ten times the requested dues to the commission to get that posting. Looks like it went through about five hours ago. I have your jurisdiction set; let me get you badges," Farnsworth finished turning his chair around and looking over a shelf holding a thousand little boxes on it before settling on a dusty shelf two rows up from the bottom. He checked a tag on the self against his screen before pulling two of the boxes off the shelf.

Putting the boxes on his desk, he rolled back over to his screen and started typing again. He stopped and looked over to the siblings, "I need the names you want your agency to go by, "He waited for the siblings to respond.

"We are going to go with The Schwarts Agency," Sebas said, confirming the name. Farnsworth gave a stiff grunt and resumed typing into his screen. He stopped spit once again into his bottle and then opened the two boxes and copied the information into the system.

'You're all done here, badge number 690043 is Sebastian's and yours is 790001 ," Farnsworth finished sliding the badges over to the respective sibling. "For what it is worth, I do wish you the best. I will see to it that the best gear I can approve gets sent to wherever you decide to set up shop, I have also waived your first three months fees. Stop at the receptionist on your way out, and she will get you the latest wanted list," Farnsworth said, standing and shaking each sibling hand in turn before seeing them out of the office.

The siblings walked out past the receptionist, who had the list printed out and waiting for the pair. They gave her a nod of gratitude before accepting the file and turning to leave. They entered the hallway, looking shell shocked. Sebas turned to Katie and said softly, "What just happened?"

"I don't know, but Sissy is not going to like this one bit," She said, pulling up her tablet and beginning to type a message that would change the three siblings' lives forever.


End file.
